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Meeting The Host Of Knitting Pipeline

Howdy, friends! I know it’s been a while, and I’m glad you’re here. If this is your first visit to the Knitting Daddy blog, I hope you enjoy what you read, and you might want to go read my knitting origin story to learn a little more about how I started knitting. (Short version: my daughter made me do it.) If you’re a returning reader, I think it’s pretty awesome that you’re back and I really do appreciate you coming back for more. As always, I welcome your feedback, and there are a bazillion ways to get in touch with me at the bottom of this blog post.

I know you come this blog for knitting, but who can resist a cute picture of my daughter? Bonus — I sewed the dress she’s wearing! Over the Independence Day holiday, I spent the weekend with my parents and my mom helped me re-learn how to sew and helped me a lot with this dress. Fun times!

A few weeks ago, I was thrilled to meet one of my knitting podcast heroes: Paula Emons-Fuessle of Knitting Pipeline. I’ll talk about that in a bit, but before I do that, let’s look at some of the other things that have been going on in my knitting life (and real life) lately.

First, a quick note about my absence from the blog for so long. I know you come here to read about my knitting, not what’s going on in my non-knitting life, so I’ll keep it brief. My intent with this blog is to update regularly, but you can see I’ve been on a bit of a hiatus lately. All sorts of things have been going on around here, but one of the more significant things has been my battle with a massive kidney stone. It was too big to pass or blast, so it had to be surgically removed. I had the surgery last week, spent an overnight in the hospital, and am recovering nicely at home now. In the weeks leading up to the surgery, I had been feeling horrible — even before we had identified that I had a huge stone. So during all of that, blogging fell completely off my radar. I’d like to extend a huge “thank-you” to all of you who dropped me notes of encouragement and have been keeping me in your thoughts and prayers while I’ve been dealing with this. Hopefully now that I’m on the mend, I’ll be back with regular updates again.

Recently In Podcasts

I continue to love the knitting podcasts! I’m doing a decent job with staying on top of all of them. I’ve definitely listened to hours and hours of great knitting content. It’s too much to review individually here, but if you look at some of the other posts on my blog, you’ll get an idea of the great shows I listen to.

1808: Greensboro’s Magazine

Since the last time I posted a blog entry, I was honored to be featured in one of Greensboro’s local print and online magazines: 1808. For their June issue, they ran a series of articles honoring Father’s Day, featuring local fathers who have interesting stories. One of those articles featured Blueberry and me: Local computer programmer is a knitting daddy. I was honored when Rachel (who wrote the article) asked to interview me for the magazine, and I’m thrilled with the way it turned out. If you’re reading my blog now because you saw the profile in the magazine, welcome aboard!

Knitting Daddy With Blueberry In Her BSJ. This picture was featured in the 1808 story about us.

Scrappy Sock Yarn Preemie Hat Pattern Update

Sales of my Scrappy Sock Yarn Preemie Hat pattern have settled down to the levels I was expecting when I published the pattern — an occasional sale here and there. I am extremely grateful for the generosity and support the knitting community has showed me and FSNCC through the pattern sales. I’m especially thankful for the kind words other bloggers and podcasters have had to say about the pattern as they shared it with their audience. As a result of all the pattern love I’ve been getting, May’s pattern sales were spectacular. Once the numbers came in, I was blown away. Here’s what I wrote in the Knitting Daddy Designs Ravelry group when I reported May’s sales:

Friends, I’m thrilled to report on May’s sales and resulting FSNCC donation. May’s sales were more than double April’s sales, and I’m truly grateful for each of you who purchased the pattern and are knitting hats for your loved ones, friends, and/or charity. Last month’s sales were $220.00, and I’ll be covering the Ravelry and PayPal fees myself again this month, so every penny of that $220.00 will be donated to FSNCC. I’m going to a Board event on Thursday, and I’ll bring a check for the organization then. Thank you all for making this happen!

I extend a special thanks to susanbanderson Susan, twinsetjan Jan, twinsetellen Ellen, nhkclaire Claire, and PrairiePiper Paula for mentioning the pattern on your blogs and podcasts. I saw a spike in pattern sales immediately following each of your mentions, and I know it’s that kind of word-of-mouth that is raising awareness for the pattern and FSNCC.

It really was a thrill read and hear these prominent bloggers and podcasters talking about my pattern, and it really did help get the word out. Every month, when I hand a check to the directors at FSNCC, they are astounded that the pattern is continuing to help bring financial support to the organization. June’s sales generated $30 in donations, which brings a total of $350 in donations to FSNCC since the pattern was published. Thank you all.

You can always check out the Google Sheet for details on what’s happening with the pattern sales and resulting donations.

Recently On My Needles

My needles have been hit-and-miss recently. I’ll talk more about my recent projects in the next blog update. One of the things I’m really enjoying working on while recovering from my surgery is simple knitting. I’m working on my scrap yarn projects, e.g. Those kinds of projects are perfect for what I’m able to tackle now.

Meeting The Host Of Knitting Pipeline

Shortly after I first started knitting, I discovered knitting podcasts. One of the first podcasts I discovered with Knitting Pipeline, hosted by Paula Emons-Fuessle. From the very beginning, I was in love with this podcast. Paula talks about all sorts of things: her knitting of course, but also nature notes, books, general chit-chat, and bagpipes. Yes, bagpipes — Paula is a piper. My heritage is Scottish, and I’ve always wanted to learn how to play bagpipes, so I was doubly drawn to this podcast. I don’t remember how many episodes of Knitting Pipeline there were when I first started listening, but I went back and downloaded all of them and listened to the whole show from the very first episode. There are currently over 200 episodes and I’ve enjoyed every single one of them. Paula creates a sense of community in her podcast — reading notes from listeners — and she nurtures that community in her Knitting Pipeline Ravelry group.

Paula is currently celebrating the birth of her first grandchild — whom she introduced in her Ravelry group. Of course, once that precious baby was born, Paula and her husband made a beeline to visit her. That brought her to my neck of the woods in North Carolina (OK, technically, my in-laws’ neck of the woods, but close enough), and I invited her to meet me at one of my favorite yarn shops, and then to have a quick bite for lunch. The timing worked out perfectly — I was visiting my in-laws when Paula came down and it was an easy and fun meet-up.

Warm-n-Fuzzy, in Cary, NC. This is one of my favorite yarn shops, and was the perfect place to meet up with Paula during her NC visit.

We met at Warm-n-Fuzzy in Cary, NC. I brought along the Piper’s Journey I had knitted for my mother a few years ago since it was one of Paula’s designs. Paula enjoyed looking at it and I was very proud to be able to show it to her — it was the first real shawl I had knitted, and I learned some new techniques (applied lace border!) while doing the project. I had Blueberry with me, and she enjoyed meeting Paula as well. We all had a great time looking around the shop and talking with Rebecca, the shop owner. I managed to make it out of the shop without purchasing any yarn, but I’m not sure Paula can say the same thing. 😉

Paula, Blueberry, and me, hanging out at Warm-n-Fuzzy. Blueberry definitely is sporting her “picture smile” for this one!

Paula is just as warm and genuine in person as she is on her podcast and in her Ravelry group. She hosts several knitting retreats every year and I’ve always wanted to go to one of them. After meeting her in person and hanging out with her for bit, I want to make it out to one of those retreats even more. Hopefully, some time down the road, I’ll be able to join the fun.

In addition to her podcast and Ravelry group that I’ve already mentioned, Paula has a slew of wonderful patterns available on Ravelry. I want to knit all of her shawls (Cave Point is probably next up for me). If you’re not already part of the Knitting Pipeline community, it’s time to come join us.

Paula — I thoroughly enjoyed our time together and look forward to catching up with you again sometime. Please be sure to drop a line next time you’re in NC and we can meet up again.

So glad to have found your blog after hearing about you on Knitting Pipeline and Twinset Designs. I grew up in Asheboro, NC. I live in South Florida, now, but my heart is always in NC. All the best to you and your family.

Hi, Suzanne — I’m so glad you found me, too, and I appreciate you dropping a note! We love visiting the pottery mecca in Seagrove, and now that Blueberry is getting older, I suspect we’ll be spending some time in Asheboro at the zoo, too. I know what you mean about having your heart in NC. Even when I leave for just a few days, my heart always feels happier once I cross the state line on my way back home.

I just read your blog for the first time and will definitely be back for more. The story of Blueberry’s birth and how knitting helped you cope brought me to tears. Having had a critically ill newborn many years ago (he’s a healthy adult now) I can relate to your experience and how it forges a special bond between the two of you. She just glows from aIl the love and care that she is receiving. Paula has become one of my knitting heroes too. I am keeping up with the current episodes and am working my way thru the past ones. I’m on 168 now. I hope you continue to heal and return to full strength.
Best
Esther

Hi, Esther — thank you so much for your comment. I love hearing stories about how critically ill newborns turn into healthy adults, and I’m glad that is the experience you’ve had with your son. Thanks for your kind words about my knitting origin story, it always humbles me when I hear that my experience is touching for someone else as well. Paula is pretty awesome, and I’m sure you’re going to enjoy catching up on the entire run of her podcast. It’s pretty timeless. Today was my first day back in the office since my surgery, and it’s nice to be back in the saddle again. I appreciate your thoughts on my healing, everything is going well.

Hi, Natalie — thanks for the note! I’m glad that you came to check out my blog, too. 🙂 I just spent a couple of minutes on the website for your Mastering The Knits Podcast, and I was immediately pulled in by the picture of your Crackerjack at a Stitch N’ Pitch. I kinda feel a connection, now, since my local Stitch N’ Pitch was at the Durham Bulls, which is the AAA farm team for the Rays. Also, I love your stitch marker. I’ll be checking out your podcast this weekend.

Thank you for checking out the podcast. Hope you enjoy it! I’m loving working on the crackerjack! I grew up in a big baseball loving family and now it helps that we live so close to the Rays and have family who works for the team. We are enjoying taking our girls to games and sharing that with them. The stitch marker was part of the goody bag from the stitch n pitch and I love it too! Really enjoying reading about a father who knits. Thank you for sharing your story!